U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who was first elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2004.

On February 16, 2005, the day the Kyoto Protocol took effect in the 141 countries that ratified it, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels challenged other mayors throughout the United States to join Seattle in taking local action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global warming.

On March 30, 2005, Nickels and eight other U.S. mayors representing more than 3 million Americans, sent a letter and an endorsement agreement to city mayors nationwide inviting them to join the grassroots effort to reduce global warming.

On June 13, 2005, the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement was passed unanimously by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Ever since, mayors in cities nationwide have continued to sign on to the agreement.

With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States produces more than 25 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions—and those emissions are continuing to grow. When the U.S. government refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international effort to cut greenhouse gases and reduce global warming, Nickels decided to "show the world there was intelligent life in the United States after all" by persuading American cities to commit to the Kyoto targets.

Worldwide, cities account for 78 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. From the letter:

“We believe that U.S. cities can – and should – act to reduce global warming pollution, both in our own municipal operations and in our communities. Many of us are already doing so through programs such as energy conservation, urban forest restoration, controlling sprawl and using alternative fuels in our fleets. Not only are we reducing our contributions to global warming pollution, we are investing in more livable cities through cleaner air, creation and preservation of open space and urban forests, and reduced energy costs.”

• Greg Nickels, Seattle, WA
• Peter Clavelle, Burlington, VT
• Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City, UT
• Rosemarie Ives, Redmond, WA
• Gavin Newsom, San Francisco, CA
• Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica, CA
• Tom Potter, Portland, OR
• Mark Ruzzin, Boulder, CO
• R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN

Cities that adopt the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012—the same goal the United States would have been required to meet under the Kyoto Protocol.

Nickels and the other founding mayors set an initial goal to have 141 cities endorse the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement within a year—to match the number of countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol. By May 2007, a little more than two years after the initiative began, 500 cities had signed on.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has put together a best practices guide, which highlights what many U.S. cities are doing to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, reduce global warming, and create more livable communities. The guide shows how cities are making a difference in the following areas:

• Municipal Buildings, Facilities & Operations
• Air Quality
• Climate Change
• Energy Sources
• Fuels, Vehicles & Transit
• Housing
• Other Categories

Under the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, participating cities commit to take the following three actions:

• Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;

• Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol – 7 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and

• Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system.